[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2651 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2651
To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to establish a
State innovation demonstration authority.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 3, 2025
Mr. Owens introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to establish a
State innovation demonstration authority.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``One Door to Work Act''.
SEC. 2. STATE INNOVATION DEMONSTRATION AUTHORITY.
Section 190 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29
U.S.C. 3250) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 190. STATE INNOVATION DEMONSTRATION AUTHORITY.
``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to--
``(1) authorize States to apply under this section on
behalf of the entire State, or on behalf of a local area or a
consortium of local areas in the State, to receive the
allotments or allocations of the State or the local areas,
respectively, for youth workforce investment activities and
adult and dislocated worker employment and training activities
under this Act, as a consolidated grant for 5 years for the
purpose of carrying out a demonstration project to pursue
innovative reforms to achieve better outcomes for jobseekers,
employers, and taxpayers; and
``(2) require that rigorous evaluations be conducted to
demonstrate if better outcomes and associated innovative
reforms were achieved as a result of such demonstration
projects.
``(b) General Authority.--
``(1) Waivers and demonstration grant amounts.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, during the
demonstration period applicable to a demonstration project
approved for a State pursuant to subsection (d)(3), the
Secretary shall comply with each of the following:
``(A) Waivers.--Subject to paragraph (2), waive for
the State as a whole, or for the local area or the
consortium of local areas in such State selected by the
State to carry out such demonstration project, all the
statutory and regulatory requirements of subtitle A and
subtitle B.
``(B) Demonstration grant amounts.--For each fiscal
year applicable to such demonstration period:
``(i) State as a whole.--In a case of a
State approved to carry out a demonstration
project under this section on behalf of the
State as a whole, distribute as a consolidated
sum to the State, for purposes of carrying out
the project, the State's total allotment for
such fiscal year under--
``(I) subsections (b)(1)(C) and
subsection (c) of section 127;
``(II) paragraphs (1)(B) and (2)(B)
of section 132(b); and
``(III) section 132(c).
``(ii) Local area.--In a case of a local
area selected by a State to carry out a
demonstration project under this section,
require the State to--
``(I) distribute as a consolidated
sum to the local board for such local
area, for purposes of carrying out the
project, the local area's allocation
for such fiscal year under--
``(aa) subsections (b) and
(c) of section 128; and
``(bb) subsections (b) and
(c) of section 133; or
``(II) if the local board of the
local area enters into a written
agreement with the State for the State
to serve as the fiscal agent for the
local board during the demonstration
project, use the funds described in
subclause (I) for purposes of carrying
out the project on behalf of the local
board.
``(iii) Consortium of local areas.--In a
case of a consortium of local areas selected by
a State to carry out a demonstration project
under this section, require the State to--
``(I) distribute as a consolidated
sum to the consortium, for purposes of
carrying out the project, the total
amount of the allocations for the local
areas in such consortium for such
fiscal year under--
``(aa) subsections (b) and
(c) of section 128; and
``(bb) subsections (b) and
(c) of section 133; or
``(II) if the consortium enters
into a written agreement with the State
for the State to serve as the fiscal
agent for the consortium during the
demonstration project, use the funds
described in subclause (I) for purposes
of carrying out the project on behalf
of such consortium.
``(2) Exceptions.--
``(A) In general.--A State, local area, or
consortium of local areas carrying out a demonstration
project under this section shall comply with statutory
or regulatory requirements of this Act relating to--
``(i) performance accountability and
reporting, except as otherwise provided in this
section;
``(ii) the membership of local or State
boards in instances where a State carrying out
a demonstration project will maintain the use
of such boards during the demonstration period;
and
``(iii) the priority of service described
in section 134(c)(3)(E).
``(B) Applicability of defined terms.--In carrying
out a demonstration project under this section, a
State, local area, or consortium of local areas may
only use a term defined in section 3 to describe an
activity carried out under such demonstration project
if the State, local area, or consortium of local areas
gives such term the same meaning as such term is given
under such section.
``(3) Authority for third-party evaluation.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after
the first demonstration project is approved under this
section, the Secretary shall contract with a third-
party evaluator to conduct a rigorous evaluation of
each demonstration project approved under this section.
The evaluation shall--
``(i) cover the 5-year period of each
demonstration project;
``(ii) compare the employment and earnings
outcomes of participants in activities carried
out under the demonstration project to--
``(I) the outcomes of similarly
situated individuals that do not
participate in such activities who are
located in such State, local area, or a
local area in such consortium; and
``(II) the outcomes of participants
in activities under this chapter in the
State, local area, or a local area in
the consortium that was awarded a
waiver prior to the award of such
waiver;
``(iii) conduct a qualitative analysis that
identifies any promising practices or
innovative strategies that--
``(I) would not have been conducted
without the waiving of statutory or
regulatory provisions through the
demonstration project; and
``(II) lead to positive employment
and earnings outcomes for the
participants; and
``(iv) compare the outcomes for subclauses
(I) and (II) of clause (ii) with respect to the
subpopulations described in section
116(d)(2)(B).
``(B) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the
fifth year of each demonstration project approved under
this section, the Secretary shall submit to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions, the results of the
evaluation of such conducted under this paragraph.
``(c) Demonstration Period; Limitations.--
``(1) In general.--A demonstration project approved under
this section for a State, local area, or consortium--
``(A) shall be carried out for a 5-year
demonstration period; and
``(B) may be renewed for an additional 5-year
demonstration period, if the State, local area, or
consortium--
``(i) for each of the final 3 years of the
preceding 5-year demonstration period, meets
its expected levels of performance established
under subsection (f)(1)(C); and
``(ii) on the final year of the preceding
5-year demonstration period, achieves a
performance improvement of not less than an
average of a 5-percent increase across all of
the indicators of performance described in
clauses (i) and (ii) of subsection (f)(1)(A),
compared with--
``(I) the highest level of
performance for the corresponding
indicators of performance, as described
in subsection (f)(1)(B)(i) with respect
to such State, for the most recent
program year that ended prior to the
beginning of the first year of the
preceding 5-year demonstration period;
or
``(II) the alternate baseline level
of performance for the corresponding
indicators of performance that is
agreed upon between the State and the
Secretary under subsection
(f)(1)(B)(ii).
``(2) Limitations.--
``(A) Demonstration period limitations.--For each
5-year demonstration period (including renewals of such
period) the Secretary may not approve--
``(i) more than 8 demonstration projects
for States to carry out a demonstration project
described in subsection (b)(1)(B)(i); and
``(ii) more than 8 demonstration projects
for local areas (or consortia of local areas)
to carry out a demonstration project described
in clause (ii) or (iii) of subsection
(b)(1)(B).
``(B) State limitations.--No more than 1
demonstration project may be approved under this
section per State. For purposes of this subparagraph, a
demonstration project described in clause (ii) or (iii)
of subsection (b)(1)(B) approved for a local area or a
consortium of local areas, respectively, in a State
shall be considered a demonstration project approved
under this section for the State.
``(d) Application.--
``(1) In general.--To be eligible to carry out a
demonstration project under this section, a State shall submit
to the Secretary an application at such time and in such manner
as the Secretary may reasonably require, and containing the
information described in paragraph (2).
``(2) Content.--Each application submitted by a State under
this subsection shall include the following:
``(A) A description of the demonstration project to
be carried out under this section, including--
``(i) whether the project will be carried
out--
``(I) by the State as a whole;
``(II) by a local area, and if so--
``(aa) an identification
of--
``(AA) such local
area;
``(BB) whether the
local board for such
local area is the
fiscal agent for the
project, or whether the
local board has entered
into a written
agreement with the
State for the State to
serve as the fiscal
agent during the
project; and
``(bb) written verification
from the local board for such
local area that such local
board agrees--
``(AA) to carry out
such project; and
``(BB) to the
fiscal agent identified
in item (aa)(BB); and
``(III) by a consortium of local
areas in the State, and if so--
``(aa) an identification
of--
``(AA) each local
area that comprises the
consortium; and
``(BB) the local
area that will serve as
the fiscal agent for
the consortium during
the project, or whether
the consortium has
entered into a written
agreement with the
State for the State to
serve as the fiscal
agent; and
``(bb) written verification
from each local board of each
local area identified in item
(aa)(AA) that such local board
agrees--
``(AA) to carry out
such project as a
consortium; and
``(BB) to the
fiscal agent for the
consortium identified
in item (aa)(BB);
``(ii) a description of the activities to
be carried out under the project; and
``(iii) the goals the State, local area, or
consortium intends to achieve through such
activities, which shall be aligned with the
purpose described in subsection (a).
``(B) A description of the performance outcomes the
State, the local area, or consortium expects to achieve
for such activities for each year of the demonstration
period as described in subsection (f)(1).
``(C) A description of how the State, local area,
or consortium consul